At Eklutna, Matt Worden, owner of Lifetime Adventures, paired me with guide Stefan Johnson, who was 20 years my junior. Johnson didn’t go easy on me. We began by biking about six miles on the lake’s gravel trail, tackling downhills and hairpin turns that tested my brakes. Then we hiked half of East Twin Peak (8.1 miles, 4,924 feet of gain, rated hard). The trail wore me out, in a good way. That night, I slept hard in a modern, well-lit chalet at Bluewater Basecamp, a few miles from the lake. It was a welcome contrast to the spartan backcountry lodging I’d had earlier in my trip.
“We get a lot of people who are returning from extreme Alaskan adventures,” co-owner Teal Sky Heller says. “We offer rest and relaxation.”
You can see moose, grouse, the occasional bear, and coyotes from your chalet. I saw a coyote while I was there, but the scruffy English bulldog on the property was even cuter.
5. Go salmon fishing—downtown
It’s not easy to find good fishing in many American urban centers. In Anchorage, you could wake up, take a short walk to Ship Creek, and catch more fresh, wild salmon than you could ever eat on a short visit.
“I built my business on not leaving Anchorage,” says Dustin Slinker, owner of The Bait Shack, a full-service tackle shop by the creek. Slinker can set you up with a fishing license and tackle rentals with a chance to catch multiple salmon species in Anchorage, particularly between Memorial Day and Labor Day. “I can get you fishing for an hour for $20,” he says.
A woman from Oklahoma caught a 27-pound king salmon this summer, Slinker told me, but it’s called fishing, not catching, so there’s no guarantee. If you get skunked, order the Alaska salmon or orange pistachio halibut at Orso, a few blocks away from The Bait Shack.
6. Pedal the Cook Inlet
When I expressed interest in seeing Alaskan wildlife before my backcountry trip, many people told me Anchorage’s Kincaid Park was as sure a bet as any.